Xena (Lucy Lawless)

On cult fantasy series Xena: Warrior Princess, Xena was the protagonist of the story, and the series depicted her quest to redeem herself for her dark past by using her formidable fighting skills to help people. Originally introduced as a villain in Hercules: The Legendary Journeys, the producers decided to create a spin-off based on her adventures. In Xena: Warrior Princess, Xena’s journey to redemption is chronicled and she was joined by Gabrielle, a small town bard. Together they went up against warlords and gods in the ancient mythological world.

Gabrielle

The character Gabrielle, introduced in the first episode, became Xena’s greatest ally, best friend, and soulmate. Gabrielle came from a small village and craved to escape from the boring and dull life that was her only possibility. Following Xena’s rescue of girls from her village, Gabrielle insisted on following an initially reluctant Xena on the road. The two women soon developed a strong bond of love and friendship. Her initial naïveté for the first 3 seasons and her talkative nature helped to balance Xena’s pessimistic mentality. While Xena’s character altered subtly through the series, Gabrielle’s character went through substantial development and change, especially in Seasons 3 and 4. Through their friendship/relationship Xena recognized the value of the “greater good” and the sacrifices she must make to accomplish it (a central theme in the series in later seasons).

Subtext

Despite multiple relationships with others over the course of the series, Gabrielle and Xena considered themselves soulmates, and referred to each other that way. By the sixth season it was heavily implied that this relationship had become romantic, though the relationship with Gabrielle was only portrayed by subtext. “The studio was so concerned that it would be perceived as a lesbian show that they would not allow us to have Xena and Gabrielle in the same frame of the opening titles.”

Though it was never shown on-screen, the romantic and sexual nature of their relationship has been confirmed by the actors and producers in interviews and series commentary since the series end. In the series finale, Gabrielle and Xena shared an almost-kiss as she passes water to an injured Xena with her mouth. After Xena was killed and chose not to be resurrected, it is implied that her spirit remained with Gabrielle as she continued her journey.

In an interview given by Lucy Lawless to Lesbian News magazine in 2003, Lawless stated that after the series finale, in which Gabrielle revives Xena with a mouth-to-mouth water transfer and filmed to look like a full kiss, she had come to believe that Xena’s and Gabrielle’s relationship was “definitely gay… there was always a ‘well, she might be or she might not be’ but when there was that drip of water passing between their lips in the very final scene, that cemented it for me. Now it wasn’t just that Xena was bisexual and kinda liked her gal pal and they kind of fooled around sometimes, it was ‘Nope, they’re married, man’.” Source: Here’s why Xena and Gabrielle never became a couple on Xena: Warrior Princess

Appearances:

134 episodes.

Female love interests:

Gabrielle (Renee O'Connor, main cast)

Lao Ma 💀 (Jacqueline Kim, guest, 3 episodes)

Relationship story arc with a woman: Subtext

Male love interests:

Ares (Kevin Smith, guest, S1,4, recurring S2,3,5,6)

Petracles 💀 (James Gaylyn, guest, 1 episode)

Caesar 💀 (Karl Urban, recurring, 14 episodes)

Borias 💀 (Marton Csokas, recurring, 11 episodes)

Iolaus (Michael Hurst, guest, 2 episodes)

Hercules (Kevin Sorbo, 3 episodes, guest)

Marcus 💀 (Bobby Hosea, guest, 3 episodes)

Relationship story arc with a man: Yes

Filter Relationship Arc:

[1] A relationship story arc is defined as explicit, developed on screen, and lasting more than 3 episodes. It is listed as questionable or subtext if romance is only implied, mentioned instead of shown on screen, part of a dream sequence, or otherwise not explicit for the viewer.